Switched At Birth
by ddh1973
Summary: Skye, Kara and Lincoln travel back to the day Grant Ward was born and switch him with another baby in the hospital that had died shortly after birth. All of it in an effort to save Grant from a life of abuse, along with the lives of two people that took their revenge without thinking about the consequences of their actions.
1. Switched At Birth

_**January, 1983**_

It was around one in the morning on a bitterly cold and snowy January day as a woman, wearing scrubs with baby ducks on them, slipped into the nursery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She looked at the tags on each cradle until she came to the ones she was looking for.

The newborn baby boy in the one marked Ward was lying there and the woman felt tears fill her eyes as she reached down to pick the baby boy up. She smiled at him and felt her heart melt at how innocent he was at this moment but also knew what was to come for the boy if he stayed with his family.

She then glanced at the baby boy in the cradle marked Gibson next to the one where the baby she held had been. If the records she had found were correct, this little angel would pass away from Sudden Infant Death syndrome in a week's time.

'I hope this works and Grant can have a happy life with a family that will love him,' she thought to herself as she placed the baby in her arms in the crib beside the other baby boy.

She lifted the other baby, who had almost the same features as Grant, and placed him in the one she had just taken Grant from and quickly switched bracelets on the babies the way she had been taught to.

The woman then slipped out of the room as the lone nurse on duty came back into the room and proceeded to take the cradle Grant Ward had been placed in to his 'parents'.

* * *

A week and a half had passed as Skye, Kara and Lincoln sat in the hotel room they had rented upon their arrival to this time period and watched the news coverage of the funeral of the infant son of Senator Travis Ward and his wife Millicent. The grieving couple was leaving the church with their two children, Louise and Christian. The young girl looked like her heart was broken.

"Did we do the right thing? He wouldn't have wanted us to do this," Skye said, her heart breaking for the family, especially the little girl.

"Skye, the family that has him loves him with all of their heart and will be amazing parents to him," Kara stated calmly. "If we can change the future where Simmons and Fitz aren't both sitting on death row for his murder, Grant would support what we did."

"Skye, this was your idea and it was still a good one even now. The baby that died will never experience the abuse we all knew was coming and his family will have a beautiful baby that they will cherish," Lincoln said, trying to reassure his friend but his own guilt and misgivings over what they had done were clear on his face.

"What happens when all of this comes out?"

"All three of us haven't even been born yet and once we go back, our futures will be different," Kara said but even her own doubts about what they had done were showing.

A flash of light appeared and all three of them walked through it to their future, whatever it was.


	2. Five Years Later

_**July, 1988**_

Grant Gibson ran through the park, chasing Buddy, his brown Labrador puppy, as his parents watched him. He followed the puppy and wasn't paying attention to what he was doing when he bumped into a man that was standing in the grass and fell to the ground

The five year old started to cry when he scraped his elbow as his parents, Michael and Emily rushed over to him. He was lifted into his father's arms and laid his head on the familiar and comforting shoulder.

"I got hurt, Daddy."

"It's okay, buddy. How about we go home and let mommy fix your elbow while I make some lunch."

"Can we have hot dogs, please Daddy?"

Michael, a six foot tall firefighter with dark hair and eyes, felt his heart melt at the pleading look in his son's eyes and would have given in in a second.

"No, Grant. We are going to have sandwiches for lunch. We are going to your grandparents for a cookout tonight and you can have a hot dog then," Emily Gibson firmly stated.

She was barely five foot tall with a tiny frame and also had dark hair and eyes. She looked like a good wind could knock her over but given the reaction to her statement by the two most important men in her life; she was the boss of her family.

"Okay mommy."

Emily watched as her husband carried their son over to their car and strapped him in his car seat, with Buddy following behind them. She felt blessed to have the both of them because the memory of the death of Grant Ward stayed with her five years later.

He had been the son of Senator Ward and had died of SIDS a week after his birth. Her heart had gone out to the family and her first thought had been of gratitude that her baby was still with her.

"Emily, we have a little boy that needs his mommy to take care of him."

She smiled at Michael and rushed over to the car to go home and take care of her boys.


	3. Moving Day

_**June, 1993**_

Ten year old Grant stood in the middle of his bedroom and it felt weird seeing it empty, except for some boxes. The boxes were stacked along the wall, waiting for the movers to come and get them. He didn't want to move and leave his friends but his Dad had gotten a new job at a firehouse in Los Angeles.

"Grant, are you ready to go?"

He turned and saw his mom standing in the doorway, tears in her eyes. He walked over to her and hugged her, his mother's head now reaching his shoulders. He had hit another growth spurt before school had ended and Grant had been the tallest boy in his class.

"Yes mom."

"We need to go to the airport or we are going to miss our flight."

Mother and son walked out of the room and left the only home they had known as a family to fly to LA to meet his dad, who had flown there a couple of days earlier. They handed their carry on bags to the cab driver that was waiting for them and glanced back at the house.

"Mom, are you scared?"

Emily smiled at her beautiful boy before squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"Yes but we are going to be fine, Grant."

"I know because we will all be together. I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, my sweet boy."

They got into the cab that was waiting for them and watched out the back window as their house slowly faded into the distance.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Michael Gibson was on duty at the firehouse when his team was called to stop a kitchen fire at St. Agnes Orphanage. He had helped rescue a little girl named Mary, who had been trapped by the sink and had carried her outside to be treated by the paramedics.

He smiled at the little girl, whose adorable Eurasian features tugged at his heart and had an idea that his wife, who had been told after giving birth to Grant that she couldn't have any more children, would love. Grant needed a sibling.

"Mary, what do you say to Captain Gibson," the nun standing with him at the ambulance said to the little girl.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, pretty girl."

Michael waved to the little girl who waved back before going back to his team. He wanted to give that sweet little girl a family that would love her.

After a conversation with his wife and son, all three of them had gone back to the orphanage to introduce themselves to Mary, only to find that she had been placed with a foster family just the day before. The family had left the orphanage that day as Mary watched them from an upstairs window, tears in her eyes.

"Why can't I go home with them, Sister Margaret?"

"We have our reasons, Mary."

"I just want a family to love me," the little girl sobbed, her heart broken. "They would have loved me, I just know it."

Sister Margaret comforted the crying little girl and felt anger at Shield for not allowing them to let Mary be adopted. This little angel needed a home and Captain Gibson and his family could have very easily been that for her.

* * *

AN: I apologize for how short the first few chapters are, they are setting up the background of the story and giving brief moments of Grant growing up with his new family, especially his bond with his mother. The chapters will start to get a bit longer in chapter five.

Yes, that was Skye that Grant's father rescued and that moment with them will come back in a later chapter.


End file.
